Danbury Democrats to oppose McLachlan's new part-time city job

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Dirk Perrefort Staff Writer

Published
1:00 am EST, Monday, February 2, 2009

DANBURY -- Several members of the Common Council said they are opposed to state Sen. Michael McLachlan's appointment as the city's economic development director and will likely vote against it unless certain concerns are addressed.

Council minority leader
Thomas Saadi
and council member
Fred Visconti
said they are opposed to McLachlan's appointment for reasons outlined in a Jan. 6 letter sent Mayor
Mark Boughton
.
"Right now those concerns have not been addressed and I will not support this appointment," Saadi said.
McLachlan served as Boughton's chief of staff until recently. He was elected to the state Senate in November. Boughton proposed appointing McLachlan for the economic development job during his State of the City address last month.
The letter Common Council

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sent Boughton lists several concerns about the appointment, including potential conflicts of interest. The Democrats also questioned how McLachlan, a Republican, could work 15 hours a week in the Danbury job when his duties as a lawmaker require long hours at the state
Capitol
.
"There are stretches of time when legislative duties will not permit the director to be at City Hall," the letter says. "We wonder how those hours will be made up and accounted for."
Visconti said he's concerned about how McLachlan can advocate for other towns in his Senate district -- such as Bethel and New Fairfield -- when he serves as the economic development director for Danbury.
Arthur Mannion
, chairman of the local
Board of Ethics
, said the board decided early last month there was no conflict after examining the city's charter and seeking a third-party opinion
"Basically there is nothing in the city's charter or ordinances that prohibits it," Mannion said.
An official with the Office of State Ethics said that while there is no immediate conflict, there is that potential.
"(McLachlan would not be prohibited from taking action on something that would benefit the city," said

Meredith Trimble
, a spokeswoman for the ethics office. "But he would be prohibited from taking action if it would affect his job or his salary."
She added that the commission's decision didn't address whether McLachlan could vote on legislation that would bring economic development dollars to the city.
"He might want to check with our office, just in case," Trimble said.
McLachlan said the argument being forwarded by the council Democrats "doesn't hold water."
"Obviously they haven't read the opinions," he said. "Clearly there is no conflict here."
Boughton questioned why council Democrats didn't object in the past when

Lew Wallace
, a Democrat, served as a state representative and as an administrator in the water department.
"Nobody who was on the council then, who is still on the council now, objected at the time," he said. "This is not unprecedented."
He added that shifting McLachlan into the position -- and changing it from full to part time -- will save the city about $67,000 a year.
Members of the council are expected to discuss the appointment during their regular meeting Tuesday night.
Boughton said he's asked the council to set up an ad hoc committee to review the appointment, so he can explain how he restructured the position and the savings to the city.

Council concerns Concerns raised by
Common Council Democrats
in a letter to Mayor Mark Boughton n Should the city's economic development director be a part-time or full-time employee? n A $30,750 annual salary seems high for a 15-hour-a-week job. n As a state senator, McLachlan represents several towns with competing interests, but as Danbury's economic development director he has to put the city first. n McLachlan will be required to be in Hartford for long stretches of time, during which he will not be in City Hall. How will he make up the lost hours and who will be accountable for keeping track? Source: Letter sent to Boughton on Jan. 6.